Political Socialization: An Interview With My Grandpa

A lot of things have played a role in my personal political socialization. Political ideology is the places where you have informed your beliefs from. The first example of where I get my personal political socialization is from my family. Second I have influence from my location in the U.S.A. Finally I get influence from Narragansett High School which is the school I currently attend. That is where I received my personal political socialization from.

Richard Hofstadter examines the political beliefs of the founding fathers in the first chapter of the American Political Tradition. Ideas thought about by most Americans to be the center of our organization, our founders viewed liberty, democracy, and property, as evil. The composition can be depicted to be vicious as well, because liberty, democracy, and property are linked to the United States Constitution.

After taking the quiz I have come to the conclusion that I lean more towards the Republican Party than the Democratic Party. My best fit according to the quiz was that I am a Young Outsider. According to the quiz, Young Outsiders generally express unfavorable opinions of both major parties and are largely skeptical of activist government, as a majority views government as wasteful and inefficient. Also, many Young Outsiders come from the two conservative typology groups Steadfast Conservatives and Business Conservatives in their support for the environment and many liberal social policies according to the quiz. I agree with the label of a Young Outsider to an extent because I think that I do lean more towards the Republican Party, but there are also views that I have which are unfavorable of both parties. When taking this quiz, I did realize that I share mixed views from both parties, but it only helped to confirm my speculation that I was not really one side or the other.

Political socialization begins early on in life and is an ongoing process affecting individuals throughout. It is how people eventually identify personal beliefs and expectations in American politics. These political views can include our level of patriotism, faith in the democratic system, standards by which we hold governing bodies, and opinions regarding public policies. From the playground to the classroom, the office to the dinner table, much of our lives affect our political opinions. The most easily identified agents of this are family, schooling, peers, mass media, political parties and religious influences. Furthermore, these means indoctrinate us in the political society through four basic

I have a small family which consists of my mother and father and two younger brothers. No other relatives, just us five .My family isn't very outspoken to society as a whole. We stick to speaking to each other. But when necessary, we will speak out to society in order to voice our opinions. As a result, my family is very conservative, which I feel has played a major role in the political socialization which I have developed. Growing up my parents didn’t speak politics directly to me but instead the remarks which they made around the kitchen table or around me greatly showed me my parent’s beliefs. Growing up hearing your parents speak on certain issues such as taxes and what they find morally wrong those type of things give you a lifelong guideline on how your own beliefs will turn out, although not always the case most of the time this will be correct. My parents have influenced me a lot in this aspect of my political ideology from the way I feel about abortions being legal to what I believe about the republican party and especially my stance on immigration. My mother has always told me nothing in life will ever be handed to you. You have to work for what you want. This ideology has greatly influenced my work

Next, I would identify myself as a Democratic, as well as thirty-two percent of the rest of the nation. I believed my party identification of being a Democratic was formed by the influence of my family. Since all over my family is Democratic I grow-up believing in certain Democratic characteristic such as be liberal, equal rights for men and woman especially when it deals with wages and educations, also in pro-choice. I believe my party identification is strong, however since I’m older I think I base my identity on what political candidate or politician has the values that are aligned for my best interests; meaning they are subject to change know that I understand politicas more. Based off the results from the poll I would

Today, I look back to everything that has happened and how did I come to the thoughts and opinions I have about politics. Family was a primary influence in the development of my political orientation, mainly due to constant relationship between my parents and I. Schools became a source to enforce what I been hearing at home. Then Mass Media took over and tried to paint a picture of functions as a political information-giver to adolescents and young children. With placing political figures in everyday life and association with political parties, I can only imagine what their goal was. The earliest

own my own and how I felt about them. They also taught me how to conduct

“The American Political Tradition” published in 1948 was written by a well-known historian at Colombia University. Richard Hofstadter was born on August 6, 1916, in Buffalo, New York. He attended both the University of Buffalo and Columbia University where he studied philosophy and history. Hofstadter was married twice and later in 1970 died from leukemia. Throughout his life Hofstadter had a lot of published works including Social Darwinism in American Thought, William Leggett, Spokesman of Jacksonian Democracy, The Age of Reform, The United States: the History of a Republic, and many more. Hofstadter’s purpose for writing this book was to give people a better understanding about our history. He wanted to help Americans understand who was

The government aids thousands of families with meals, money, clothes, childcare and other services that will help the families back on their feet. I do not believe the government should have full responsibility over a person wellness, the person in my opinion can become accustomed to the assistance of the government, and depend on the government for much of their assistance. I live in a rural, urban community, many of the population in my community relay on government assistance in some form. I

The United States Constitution guarantees Americans numerous liberties and rights. Our government believes in Democracy. A system of government in which the people rule, either directly or indirectly. Democratic ideals is a form of government under the Constitution, which guarantees civil liberties and civil rights to all citizens. Ensuring citizens with civil liberties are defined as freedom guaranteed to individuals such as freedom of religion and freedom of expression. Civil Rights are powers or privileges that government may not arbitrarily deny to individuals. In our government, citizens determine the extent of government activity through free elections and competitive

The political culture of the 1970's was very reformed because of all the political changes through all the wars America was involved with. This change many thing like how the president had to react with all the situations passed down from the others before. The political issues were different at different time, mostly depended on what war and what president. Toward the 1970's the United States was trying to deal with the upset of nixon and the watergate project. Ford was trying to gain the people's trust once again after all the deception. Then there was the market and inflation issues so the government had to increase tax on loans making it hard to progress with the people.

148). In essence, every voter has some political beliefs and values that often influence the way he or she views political parties, candidates, and ideals. Some conservative people tend to vote to Republican, while some people tend to vote Democratic. Voters have their own political attitudes, and these attitudes determine how society goes, whom they are voting for, and what kind of political parties they are supporting. Many elements have the ability to contribute the political attitudes, such as family, gender, education, income, religion, age, race, and etc. According to Ginsberg et al., the first place where people start forming their beliefs on politics is their families and society (148). This idea explains the reason some areas in the U.S. have more Democratic representatives while others have the majority of their residents being Republicans. The fact that most people possess these ideals means that in the event that the candidates in a ballot do not have the qualities that a particular group of voters is looking for, these voters will not partake in voting. When the impact of race in political socialization is factored in, it becomes increasingly evident that some people of one race are unlikely to spend their time voting for a candidate who does not represent their beliefs pertaining to racial issues. For instance, African Americans’ perception of the extent of racism is different from that of whites. This has a significant bearing on the motivation of voters from each divide to participate in an election (Ginsberg et al.

There is a point when politics begin saturating daily life from the incredible overload of constant argument and confusion. I personally dream of the day when I can get through a meal without politics being brought up, when I can go on the internet and not see headlines about who insulted who.

Political ideology is defined as a certain set of ideals and principles of a person that explain how society should work, and offers some political and cultural plan for social order. Specific opinions and ideals on different subjects are lumped together, which creates groups of people with similar political ideologies called political parties. People feel differently about different issues and those beliefs range from liberal to conservative. Overall, I consider myself a moderate, which is in between liberal and conservative. I feel that I am a moderate because on some issues I agree with a liberal point of view, while on others I agree with a conservative point of view.